egoSurf - Scraping Like Mad

Via SEW (via Phil Bradley) - it's egoSurf, where you can use their numerical algorithm to see how prominently your name is associated with your website(s) in the SERPs at Google, Yahoo!, MSN (and del.icio.us). It's a fun little tool, but what gets me riled up is how they're able to scrape thousands of results from the search engines every hour and get away with it. When we try scraping, we have to use all sorts of nasty tricks to get around the engines' hatred of being pulled.

So, this Christmas, once again, I'll be asking for the phone numbers of the guys who can give me permission. I must have been a naughty SEO in 2005, but I'm trying to clean up my act.

BTW - Yes, this is why the tools are so unreliable. Matt's working on it as I type.